Magico S3 II or III vs. Rockport Atria II

I had the very good fortune this past week to listen for a 72-hour period to the new Magico S3 (2023) speakers in my home, courtesy of my local Magico dealer. I concluded that the S3 is a remarkable speaker, particularly noteworthy in its ability to project extraordinary clarity despite the reproduced music's complexity. If this speaker has a deficiency, it is in its inability to reach into the realms of deeper bass. For example, when I played Hey Now (London Grammar), there was silence instead of the two lowest tones. Of course, this is not a problem if one owns a quite good subwoofer or two.

I currently own a pair of Revel Studios, which are more than 20 years old but were the result, back in its day, of superb engineering and the utilization of components developed by Harman specifically for its Ultima product line. Immediately after the S3s were "repossessed" by the dealer's excellent installer team, I played the same select group of tracks that I had used to evaluate the S3s critically. There was little question that, in a few instances, the S3s exhibited a very modest improvement in clarity. In terms of bass reproduction, they were essentially equal.

Between the two speakers, nonetheless, I discovered one meaningful difference. The clarity of the S3s, in comparison with the Studios, seemed to result in an indescribable absence of a touch of the musicality that the Studios deliver.

At the end, taking into account both this trade-off between musicality on the one hand and clarity on the other as well as the fact that my Studios are now "free" whereas the S3s would cost me several tens of thousands of dollars (despite being offered to me as a fair competitive price), I am keeping the Studios. This is, though, a very personal evaluation. I am sure that many others would be enamored by the incredible ability of the S3 to reproduce everything (except the low bass) available from the vinyl, shiny disc, or stream.

One consideration with Magico's is that they must be 3-4 feet away from any walls, bookshelves, et cetera.

Spending $25K to $45K on speakers… seems like it would be worth a grand or so for research. I would consider it an enjoyable part of the process and considering that, well at least for me, the decision will take hours and the resulting listening many thousands of hours. I would think the upfront investment would be worth it. While in Boston catch a some live music and a lobster.

i flew out to Delaware (from Oregon) one time to audition a preamp / amp. They set up a system very similar to mine and were ready with coffee and the system all ready for me to listen to. When you’re spending on the order for a car for a piece of audio equipment it’s nice to get luxury treatment.

Besides the fact that flying from Las Vegas to Boston and return, Uber charges, staying overnight at a hotel, and meals would cost more than a pretty penny . . . .

+1 on Goodwins, and you will also pay full retail to boot! 

Goodwins High End carries both Mágico and Rockport. 

I think a more appropriate comparison would be one of the S3 (2023) vs the Avior II. Their MSRPs are within $1,500 of each other. Unfortunately , the only dealer that I know of which carried both brands was Scott Walker, and they have now replaced Rockport with Estelon. A few years ago, I was able to hear both the A5 and the Atria II at Scott Walker’s in an A/B comparison; both were driven by McIntosh 611s. At the end of the session, I concluded that — for me — the Rockport speakers sounded more musical and easier to listen to than the Magico speakers, albeit not by much. Like you, I would love to hear the new Magico S3 with the Avior II in a similar comparison.